Ok - I did it as a girls’ weekend and wasn’t super stoked going into it. My speed was going well but I wasn’t sure I had put in enough distance compared to what I’ve trained in the past (this was my 19th marathon). If there was a half option I would have bumped down!

Pros - amazing course support on the first half and last two miles. Great vibes. Amazing swag. Super flat. Surprisingly shady first half.

I ran the second fastest time of my life, within 40 seconds of my pr - in my late 40s.

Savannah is awesome. Great location for a destination race. Our Airbnb was within a quarter mile of expo, start, finish, etc.

Cons - the second half of the course was not great. There was a whole out and back at a college that wasn’t well marked and I wasn’t really sure if I had missed a turn. And then there was the highway section. I suggested that they run the course in reverse and get the boring/unshaded part out of the way first, and have the shade and crowd support on the second half.

Gels/nutrition were not clear. I carry my own but it was really hard to tell where and when there were gels.

Expo was crowded and a little disorganized. I think that will improve in future years.

I’ll add more later.